America East - Media business and technology conference

John

Kirkpatrick

John Kirkpatrick now runs a consulting company aimed at helping organizations transform to meet the needs of the audience in our digital age after a long career in the news industry.

He started his career at The Hanover (PA) Evening Sun as a reporter leading to editing stints in western Ohio, Syracuse, and San Francisco before moving to Harrisburg as editor in 1991. In 2001 he also took on the responsibility of the business side of the organization becoming Editor & Publisher, President.

Under his leadership The Patriot-News received a great deal of recognition for its work including being named Newspaper of the Year five times out of 9 years and finishing second the other four. In addition, the staff also won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for local reporting for its work on the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal. Soon after, Kirkpatrick led the development of a new company — PA Media Group — consisting of The Patriot-News, Central PA Magazine, PennLive and a host of print and glossy niche publications. He spearheaded the move to a three-day-a-week print cycle with an all-in digital focus aimed at making sure the news organization was in position to serve it audiences and communities long into the future.

In October of 2013 he moved to Lancaster Newspapers as President and the following year he led the paper through a pivotal transition that included changing the name of the paper, the company's name, redesigning the newspaper, refreshing LancasterOnline, and reorganizing the editorial and sales departments all directed toward significant digital growth. To further the goal of putting resources in local content and sales, he recently outsourced our printing and production.

In 2014, Kirkpatrick received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association recognizing his long career and outstanding contributions to the industry.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Tricia Greyshock at triciag@pa-news.org or at (717) 703-3070.